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Everything you need to know about our CSA programme, The Barn event venue, school visits, and how we grow food at Downsview Park, North York, Toronto.
Zawadi Farm is a working regenerative urban farm at 160 Downsview Park Boulevard, North York, Toronto. We grow food using no-till, soil-first practices on a municipal lease inside Downsview Park. We are a commercial farm, a CSA programme, an event venue, and a community gathering space — all in one place.
Zawadi means gift in Swahili. The name is intentional. When you grow food for your community, you are not performing a service — you are offering something. The harvest is a gift from the land, from the labour, and from the relationships built with the people who show up to buy, to learn, and to gather.
Zawadi Farm was co-founded by Jessey Njau and her brother Misha. Jessey brings over 30 years in the technology sector and a deep commitment to food sovereignty and community-led agriculture. The farm operates under a long-term municipal lease with Canada Lands Company at Downsview Park.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Members pay at the start of the season in exchange for a weekly share of whatever is harvested that week. It is an act of trust on both sides — members invest before the harvest; we grow because they believed we would. Buying a share is a direct investment in the farm, not just a produce purchase.
You purchase your share at the start of the season through our online store at zawadi-farm.localline.ca. Each week during the growing season, we harvest what is ready and divide it into shares. You pick up your share at one of our two weekly market locations. Weekly and bi-weekly options are available.
The 2026 CSA season runs from May through November. Shares are available weekly and bi-weekly. We recommend securing yours early — availability is limited by what the soil can sustainably produce each season.
We operate two weekly pickup locations: St. Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto on Saturdays, and Leslieville Farmers Market on Sundays. You can also visit us directly at the farm — 160 Downsview Park Boulevard, North York, Toronto, M3K 2B8.
Every share contains what was harvested that morning at Downsview Park. The contents change week to week based on the season and what is at peak quality. Across the season you can expect tomatoes, peppers, kale, lettuce, basil, onions, herbs, and more. We grow regeneratively — which means the produce is grown in living soil without synthetic inputs.
Shares are purchased through Local Line, our online farm store. Visit zawadi-farm.localline.ca to see current availability, select your share size and pickup frequency, and complete your order. For questions, email orders@zawadi.farm.
The Barn is a 1,900 square foot event and gathering space on the farm at Downsview Park. It holds up to 210 guests and sits inside a working regenerative farm. We host weddings, corporate events, community dinners, workshops, and farm-to-table experiences. There is no other venue in Toronto that puts you this close to where your food actually comes from.
Submit your inquiry through the booking form on The Barn page, or email us at thebarn@zawadi.farm. We accommodate private events, corporate team days, CSR experiences, and community gatherings. Our team will confirm availability and walk you through packages and pricing.
We offer tailored corporate volunteer days and CSR farm experiences for groups of 10 to 80 people. Teams participate in real farm work — planting, harvesting, composting — alongside education about regenerative agriculture and the urban food system. Pricing is tiered from $85 to $150 per person. Contact us to build a custom experience.
Yes. Zawadi Farm is an official Toronto District School Board-approved vendor. We can accept school bookings directly through standard TDSB procurement processes. All required vendor documentation is available upon booking.
We offer hands-on farm visits for students from JK through high school, soil stewardship and composting workshops, seed-to-harvest curriculum sessions, and educator professional development workshops. All programming is curriculum-linked and delivered at the farm at Downsview Park, facilitated by our Education Director Jon McMurray and Education Programme Lead Corinna.
Regenerative agriculture is a farming approach that focuses on rebuilding soil health rather than depleting it. At Zawadi Farm, we farm without tillage — no ploughing, no disruption to the microbial life that makes the ground alive. We use cover crops, composting, and careful crop rotation. Healthy soil holds water, sequesters carbon, and grows food that tastes the way food is supposed to taste.
No. We grow without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Our soil programme relies on compost, cover crops, and beneficial insect habitat. We believe that healthy soil builds resilient crops — and that the most effective long-term pest management is a farm ecosystem that is in balance.